BY BAMBANG SUPRIYANTO & ERWIN TAMBUNAN

JAKARTA-The deforestation target proposed by the Ministry of Forestry to Bappenas of an average of 1.4 million hectares (ha) per year or a total of 14 million ha until 2020 is considered unrealistic.

Forest policy research institute, Greenomics Indonesia, suspects that the proposed figure is the result of predictions so that it is potentially erroneous and manipulative without the real figures of the latest deforestation that occurred in Indonesia.

The deforestation target to obtain an estimated figure of emissions to be released from the proposed deforestation plan of 705.6 million tons per year or an accumulative 7.06 billion tons until 2020 is pegged based on satellite image coverage from 2002-2006 with the latest deforestation rate of 1.17 million ha per year.

""The Ministry of Forestry should have used Indonesia's latest deforestation data, namely 2009 satellite image coverage. After the 2009 deforestation figure is obtained, then the Ministry of Forestry should calculate its deforestation and emission reduction plan," he said.

On the other hand, Chairman of the Sarana Wana Jaya Foundation Soegeng Widodo said the guideline method of Agriculture. Forestry and Land Use Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Afolu IPCC) Guideline can be used to avoid miscalculating carbon emissions that are detrimental to Indonesia.

""It is intended to avoid errors in over estimating carbon emissions calculations that are detrimental to Indonesia,"" he said yesterday.

Meanwhile, BPK Member for Natural Resources. Infrastructure, and Environment Ali Masykur Musa said that emission-discharging developed countries need to be reminded not to simply transfer the responsibility of saving the environment and the earth by paying .some money to emission-absorbing countries.

""The Kyoto Protocol emission reduction target will not be achieved if the mindset surrounding carbon trading is money and business. Industrialized countries can continue to release carbon as long as they are able to pay other countries to absorb the emissions they have released, "said last week.